Naturescaping principle #1 of 11: Key Learning

OK.  Here we go...... here's the first of eleven postings to come on the naturescaping principles.

Principle #1 - USE NATIVE PLANTS

What's a Native plant you ask?  It's a plant that was here before the Europeans colonized the area.   Personally, I think it's a bit unrealistic to ask us to just use natives (going back to the three-legged stool blog I did on sustainability - the stool would fall over due to lack of cultural acceptance).   So, I think the key point here is to focus on natives as much as possible, and for the other selections, stick with the plants that have proven they can readily live healthy, low maintenance, non-invasive lives in our climate, (and microclimates that are so endemic here in the PNW.)

Pick up any good reference book on plants of the Pacific Northwest to see the myriad options to choose from......

Here's a short list to open your eyes to the possibilities:

SUN LOVING NATIVES

• Thimbleberry - rubus parviflorus
• Yarrow - achiellea millefolium
• Pearly Everlasting - anaphalis margaritacea
• Kinnikinnick - arctostaphylos uva-ursi
• Lupine - lupinus angustifolius
• Hedge Nettle - stachys cooleae
• Foxglove - digitalis purpurea
• Flowering Red Currant - ribes sanguineum
• Native Honeysuckle - lonicera hispidula
• Oregon Sedum - sedum oreganum
• Native Strawberry - fragaria chileonsis
• Nootka Rose - rosa nutkana
• Snowberry - symphoricarpos alba
• Cow Parsnip - heracleum lanatum

NATIVES FOR WET/MOIST LOCATIONS

• Devils Club - oplopanax
• Red Twig Dogwood - cornus stolonifera
• Skunk Cabbage - lysichiton americanum
• Douglas Spirea - spirea douglasii (this is a GREAT alternative to Butterfly Bush)

SHADE LOVING NATIVES

• Evergreen Huckleberry - vaccinium ovatum
• Low Oregon Grape - merhonia nervosa
• Tall Oregon Grape - merhonia aquifolium
• Elderberry - sambucus racemosa
• Fringecup - tellima grandiflora
• Deer Fern - blechnum spicant
• Sword Fern - polystichum munitum

Looking back on my own gardening experience...... I can't count the number of plants that have gone belly up due to wrong-plant-wrong-place syndrome or been salad central to wandering deer..... the time and money I've wasted buying and planting something that initially looks so lovely, only to have it succumb to nature's whim because it wasn't the appropriate selection.  Mother nature has been telling me time and again and I haven't listened...... now I'll pay more attention!

11 Naturescaping Principles

I promised you some learnings on naturescaping principles..... been pondering how to go about it..... don't want to bore you with one l-o-n-g post..... soooooooo, I think I'll go about it with one-at-a-time nuggets. So, to get things going and give you the big picture, here's the full list..... subsequent blogs will go into more details on each principle.

1.  Use native plants.
2.  Don't fight your site.
3.  Try to provide all 4 wildlife habitat elements: food, water, shelter, space.
4.  Provide food diversity.
5.  Create many layers in the landscape.
6.  Preserve existing vegetation and micro-habitats.
7.  Use groundcovers.
8.  Minimize pruning.
9.  Avoid pesticides / chemicals.
10. Provide diversity of habitat.
11. Learn to recognize and deal with invasives.

The Last Class

Saturday, March 20th..... our final class!

The original schedule had the final class set for March 27th, but the MG coordinator did some shuffling with the agenda and managed to squeeze everything in to one long day, instead of bringing us back for two more shorter-duration Saturdays.  Woo hoo!  I'm so ready to get my Saturdays back!

We spent the first part of the morning reviewing the results of the "stump the diagnostician" exercise from a few weeks ago.  As you may remember, we had to bring in a sample of some plant problem from our own gardens and let the seasoned diagnosticians go at it.  There was one sample that stumped them, so more research required, but for the most part they were able to come up with answers to our gardening woes. 

The sample I submitted came back with a diagnosis of transplant shock..... I guess that's better than the alternative - some nasty whatever infecting my garden.   My problem plant is a Hinoki Cypress (chamaecyparis obtusa).... here's what a healthy one should look like....


Mine's been dying back from the base upwards..... steadily dying....
My initial reaction was "nah.... they've got it wrong".... but thinking back on it, it may make sense after all.   I probably haven't been diligent in my watering efforts and that's a critical task to ensure new plantings settle in.   Regular, consistent watering during the first few years is critical for a new shrub to get established, and evergreens are especially sensitive to this period.  Being evergreen they're processing large amounts of water all year long, and while the winter rains were good, they aren't enough to penetrate the subsoil effectively and give a newbie what it needs.  Lesson learned.

We spent the second half of the morning providing "good/bad" feedback about the program.  Flip chart exercise with all of us firing off comments to be captured.  There'll be a follow up email coming soon where we can provide more information/details if desired.  This was a big transition year for the program what with moving everything to the online format.  Looking back, I have to say that overall they did a commendable job.  I've had my share of gripes over the past three months, but considering what they had to take on, they did a bang up job.  Well done!

Then came some administrative training..... reviewing how MGs report their hours.  Knowing the difference between public contact hours and support hours and how to complete the quarterly report properly.  Bit fiddly, but all makes sense once you get the hang of it.

Then came lunch......

The BIG pot luck lunch.  About 100 people bringing in a pot luck item.....oh my.... we out-did ourselves.  Lots of healthy choices and indulgences too.... something there for everyone.



We spent the afternoon diving deep into the clinics.  Big Q and A session to get all our questions answered..... some Qs were very good and worthwhile hearing.... others were totally ridiculous and absolutely unnecessary...... "what if my clinic leader shows up drunk?"  Jeepers!
A couple of the mentors then got up and went through some skits to show us how various scenarios may get played out.  They pretty much exaggerated the what-not-to-do stuff, but it got the point home...... and it was pretty entertaining!

Finally, the culmination of all of our efforts - getting our badges.  One of the beauties of the online system is work gets graded in an instant so things can be made official at the final class - no waiting for badges in the mail.   First, all the team-table mentors were asked to get up and be recognized for their contributions.  Big round of applause.


Then each of us was called up to receive our official intern badge and an MG mug (looks like a flower pot, how cute!). 

To finish things off, we all stood up to give Elaine, the MG coordinator (that's her giving me my badge and flower pot mug), a standing ovation..... well deserved.  Thank you Elaine!  That's no easy job you've got there.

Now we move on to the next phase of our training...... internship.

Stay tuned!

The Final Exam

Our final exam is open book.  March 19th, 5:00pm is the deadline for having it submitted.



65 questions...... all over the place in terms of subject matter covered.  Suffice to say.... gotta either know the answers or know where to find the answers, or you're in for a time consuming grind.

We've had access to the Qs for quite a while, so as I've been working through the weekly homework I've been doing a sweep of the exam stuff and answering any relevant questions while the topic is fresh in my mind.  
Found a few that had tricky wording..... tried to figure out if I'd missed something in the learning effort, or if it was a badly written question.   Some fellow students had similar observations....... mmmmmm, what to do?  

(..... some time later)

Well, we decided to get together to discuss things and see if we could sort it out.  Suffice to say.... a few of them are still up in the air, so we'll just go with our gut and see what happens.  Was good to bash heads and see what others were thinking..... it is open book after all, so consulting any/all resources isn't a no-no.

(..... more time later)

Just finished uploading the answers.  Go figure!  I got the tricky ones right and blew it on 3 other ones..... two of which I downright disagree with what the system says is the right answer, and have definitive proof in the text-book that the Q is set up wrong, so technically speaking, I just got one wrong, but even that one is questionable... the way it was written threw me off (bad grammar).   Heck, this stuff is important!  I could give out the wrong advice if I believe the answer key is correct..... gotta push back when you have to, right?

Bottom line, I got enough points to pass, so I'm all done.  Woo hoo!

Clinics - Episode 3

Our clinic team gathered this past weekend.  A chance for the team to reconnect after the long winter with a lovely pot luck dinner, followed by a meeting to discuss the upcoming clinic season.

There are 34 people on our clinic roster.  28 women and 6 guys (lucky guys!)  Most are seasoned MGs... two of us are first year interns  (well, not officially yet... we still need to finish the course/exam stuff but I'm going confident on this one.....), one guy is a second year intern and some folks are substitutes (emeritus MGers who don't have to do the regular clinic gig anymore, but pitch in once in a while when needed).

About 17 showed up for the event, making the pot luck a delightful and delicious way to start my clinic experience!



A home-made soup bar, assorted salads and breads and a few sweet indulgences to finish things off.  A welcoming group and good conversation.  Nice bunch of folks! : )

Then we got down to business.   All the leaders from the various MG clinics in King County had gathered some time ago with the MG-coordinator for a 2010 meeting to get the latest/greatest information etc,  and now they were imparting it to all of us.  Policies, procedures, budget info, new plans for 2010 and the like.  All good stuff to know.

The 2010 schedule was shared.  Impressive how it's all put together.  Oh my.  So many moving parts to factor in, what with all of us providing our scheduling preferences-  and it all has to be figured out to cover the two separate clinics that our team supports.  Ends up in a spiffy spreadsheet with everything easy to read and understand.  Didn't need a translator or anything.  Nicely done!

I've been assigned a clinic mentor..... a buddy who will guide me along on my clinic'ing journey.  LeRoy's his name.  Hope I don't kill him with stupid questions and a never-ending stream of "can you help me figure out what this plant/disease is?"  : )



My first clinic will be at Pickering Barn (Issaquah Farmer's Market) on Saturday, April 17th. 9:30am - 2:00pm.  If you're in the neighborhood, swing by and say "hi" and cheer me on!  If you have a plant problem that needs solving.... try to bring me one that's not too difficult!  Powdery mildew and black spot are about my limit right now!

Class session #10

Long one, but a good one.

Joan Cabreza gave an informative presentation on Native and Invasive plants. 
How about this for an opening statement?

"If you are a property owner, you're a habitat manager". 

Kinda gives it a new perspective doesn't it?  We're not just home owners with lawns to mow, leaves to rake in the fall and weeding, weeding, weeding to tend to..... we really influence the landscape around us, and if we do it right we can be great stewards of it AND enjoy it for ourselves.  



Joan told us about 11 naturescaping principles..... good things to ponder.  Stay tuned for a blog on this one..... it'll be a worthy read, I promise!

After hearing about Natives, we got an ear full about Invasives.  Yikes!  Not a fun topic, but one we needed to hear.  Suffice to say, it's a real problem and not likely to get better anytime soon.  Invasives are the #2 threat to biodiversity (#1 is habitat loss due to development/de-forestation and the like).  Both terrestrial AND aquatic ecosystems are being affected.  
When my husband and I lived in Florida we were avid SCUBA divers and spent a lot of time involved with environmental-based groups doing work to protect marine ecosystems..... the Lionfish was just starting to become a known problem in the Caribbean.  Lionfish are not native to the Caribbean.... they were probably introduced when someone emptied their aquarium collection into the sea after they got tired of dealing with it.



Lionfish live up to their name.... they're aggressive and territorial and are transforming the make up of the reef systems.  
Invasive plants are doing something similar things on land....altering ecosystems and disrupting food chains.  Aggressive growers, proflific seeders, they bully their way into a landscape and literally take over, smothering everything else and pushing it out.  The landscape looses its diversity, and the fauna that came with it.  Not a good thing.  Stay tuned for an enlightening blog on the topic - I'll share more of what I learned.

After a quick lunch, Cass Turnbull gave us a humorous 3 hour presentation on pruning.  Yes, pruning can be humorous!  Her stories about mal-pruning got the point home about what NOT to do and the consequences if one does.......

........ namely, we'll probably be left with a tree/shrub that rots out and weakens, making it more prone to falling in a strong wind, and unnecessary time/$$ wasted.  She had a great line that I'll share with you....... "the truth will set you free, but at first it will piss you off!".  So, when an MG politely advises you that your pruning efforts are not appropriate, remember this line and know, our intentions mean well..... we really do want you to have a healthy, happy tree/shrub, a beautiful landscape, more money in your pocket and time to spend doing more fun things!

Class dismissed.

Clinics - Episode 2

OUR CLINIC TEAM - POT LUCK AND SCHEDULING

Our clinic coordinator has reached out to invite us to a pre-season gathering: a pot luck and meeting.
A chance to socialize and plan the upcoming clinic season.  We'll be getting together this coming Saturday afternoon (right after MG class).


Of the 740 or so Master Gardeners, about 25 of them are on our clinic team. Someone on the team coordinates getting the schedule put together.  We each had to send in a note with the dates we're NOT available and from that, the schedule gets built to support the two clinics we're responsible for.  We should get the final schedule soon.

I've asked that I only be assigned to one clinic per month since I'll also have to get the garden and other required assignments for this year onto my calendar (more about those in a later blog).

Now..... what shall I cook up and bring to the pot luck?

Clinics - where are they?

Someone asked me where the King County MG clinics are located........ good question!
Here's the answer......

BELLEVUE
Home Depot, 325 120th Avenue NE
and
Bellevue Nursery, 842 104th Avenue SE

BOTHELL
Home Depot, 18333 120th Avenue NE

BURIEN
Herr Garden Center, 107 SW 160th Street
and
Burien Library, 14700 6th Avenue SW

FEDERAL WAY
Farmers Market – Commons Parking Lot
S 320th Street & Highway 99

ISSAQUAH
Pickering Barn Farmers Market
1730 10th Avenue NW
and
Squak Mt. Nursery
7600 Renton-Issaquah Road SE

KENT
McLendon Hardware, 23662 104th Avenue SE

LAKE FOREST PARK
Farmers Market, Lake Forest Park Mall
17171 Bothell Way NE

MAPLE VALLEY
Do It Center/Johnson’s Hardware
23920 SE Kent Kangley Road
and
Covington Library – 27100 164th Avenue SE

MERCER ISLAND
Farmers Market, SE 32nd Street & 77th Street SE
and
Rite Aid, 3023 78th Avenue SE

REDMOND
Farmers Market, 7730 Leary Way

RENTON
Fairwood Library, 17009 140th Avenue SE
and
Farmers Market – The Piazza at 3rd and Logan
and
McLendon Hardware, 440 Rainier Avenue S

SEATTLE
Aurora Home Depot , 11616 Aurora Avenue N
and
Ballard Farmers Market
5300 Block of Ballard Avenue
and
Ballard Fred Meyer, 915 NW 45th Street
and
Center for Urban Horticulture
3501 NE 41st Street
and
Lake City Fred Meyer, 130th and Lake City Way
and
Magnolia Farmers Market, 2550 34th Avenue W
and
SoDo Home Depot, 2701 Utah Avenue S
and
University District Farmers Market
5031 University Way NE
and
Washington Park Arboretum
Graham Visitors Center
and
West Seattle Farmers Market
44th Avenue SW and Alaska Street
and
Woodland Park Zoo, 5500 Phinney Avenue N
Butterfly Garden or Family Farm Vegetable Garden

SHORELINE
Fred Meyer, 18325 Aurora Avenue N

SNOQUALMIE VALLEY
Nursery at Mt. Si, 42328 SE 108th Street
and
Si View Metro Park, 400 SE Orchard Drive

VASHON ISLAND
Farmers Market, Village Green
and
True Value Hardware Store
Vashon East Shopping Center

WHITE CENTER
McLendon Hardware, 10210 16th Avenue SW

Most clinics operate April - September/October, on Saturdays, 10am-2pm, but days/times DO vary, so don't hold me to it!  The farmers market venues obviously have clinics when the market is open, so that's a good example of one that's different.   I suggest you contact the store/nursery/market etc. for specifics, and to find out where exactly on their site the clinic is located (some venues are BIG.... you could be wandering around for a while if you don't know where to go!)

Even if you don't have a specific gardening question/problem, if you happen to be visiting a location that has a clinic, I hope you'll swing by to say "hi" and cheer us on as we go through our internship in the months to come.  : )

Clinics - Episode 1

GETTING OUR ASSIGNMENT

Way back in an earlier blog I told you about the Master Gardener clinics.  This is where MGs set up a table at various nurseries, garden centers, farmers markets and the like, and invite the general public to bring in gardening-related questions. 

As interns we're required to complete a minimum of 5 clinics per year during our first two years. After that, it's negotiable with the program coordinator (you may have an interest/talent that better serves the public elsewhere, so you don't HAVE to work the clinics - just be prepared to convince the coordinator first!)

The MG program coordinator made up the clinic assignments and sent the list out to all of us the second week or so of February.   She did her best to assign us to a clinic that's geographically desirable (close or relatively close to where we live).  If we didn't like the assignment we had one week to negotiate with another student for a swap and get back to the coordinator with information about the switch.  After that the list was finalized and now we're to stay with our assigned clinic at least through our internship (the first 2 years).

I've been assigned to Issaquah..... namely Pickering Barn (Issaquah Farmer's Market) and the Squak Nursery.  Woo hoo!  I'm thrilled.  First of all, the Issaquah Farmer's Market is a busy place, so we'll have lots of visitors and questions to answer..... great opportunity to learn stuff.  Secondly, we get to support the Squak Nursery, also in Issaquah, which gives us a change of scenery once in a while.

With the assignments locked and final, the lists go out to the clinic coordinators and it's up to them to then get their respective clinic team together and formulate the schedule for the upcoming year.  Stay tuned for the next episode!

Class session # 9

Great class yesterday!

The day started off with a book sale (discounted for MGers and MGers to be)....... ooooooooooh!  I'd say 90+% of the class came away with at least something!

Then we got down to LOTS of hands on learning...... all to do with pathology, diseases and diagnosis.

A table was set up with 25 examples of plant problems..... fungus this, gall that, blight and scab so and so...... and it was up to us to closely examine the samples, discuss/debate amongst ourselves, and use the reference materials provided to try and identify the culprit causing the problem. 



For good measure, a few placebos were thrown into the mix....... to show us that what might look like a problem sometimes isn't..... just mother nature doing her thing.   GREAT HANDS ON LEARNING!!! 
Many of us came away with more assurance that, with time and plenty of practice, we'll be able to get our hands around this stuff and do a credible job at diagnosis too. 

Each team table also spent time with a seasoned MG who gave us more one-on-one guidance on the topic..... with more mysteries to solve....



... and we got to tour the lab where samples that MGs are unable to diagnose at a clinc are sent for further examination.  

Not a big lab, but it packs a punch with all the proper equipment and reference materials.  A group of experienced diagnosticians (all of them volunteer master gardeners who've proven their metal on the topic) get down and do the necessary detective work to come up with the proper diagnosis.

As yet another fallback..... if this lab can't find the answer, the sample is sent off to the WSU's main lab in Puyallup.  That's where the big kahunas, trained academics, go into action...... so, you see, we really do mean business when we say we'll get you an answer to your plant problem.

Week 8: homework and stuff

With all the make up assignments behind me, a normal week's worth of homework seemed a breeze! 

Usual diet of activities and assignments to consume.....just a different topic.  This time we're deep into the subject of plant pathology, diseases and diagnosis.  Oh my! 

While the principals and fundamentals are pretty logical, there are soooooo many variables that can throw us off, so I'm quickly learning it's not a "follow-a-checklist-to-find-the-culprit" exercise.



A checklist will help a bit, but we'll also need good reference books and online resources .......

..... and most important of all, lots of hands on experience.

So..... bring your plant problems to a clinic and give us the chance to practice!
By the way.... as interns we're not allowed to be at a clinic on our own, so be assured we'll have an experienced MG to turn to when we get stuck!

Yum yum!

One of the delicious delights of being in the weekly Master Gardener classes is the snack bar....

Each table-team is responsible for bringing in the goodies for a given class.  The mentors spoiled us for the first class, then it's one table-team per week for 10 weeks and we all pitch in for the final class.   Goodies consist of a morning snack and an afternoon snack, so with 9 people per table-team, that's 18 different delights to choose from each week. Oh my!

Here's what a typical morning table looks like.....

....... I gain a pound just looking at it!

We've had some very creative and delicious contributions.  Fruits - both fresh and dried, nuts, quick-breads, bagels with assorted cream cheeses, yogurt bar with various toppings, hummus in umpteen flavors, cheese trays, veggie/dip trays, chips and crackers of every type, and of course a calorific display of home made brownies, cookies and other baked goods.  Suffice to say, if you oversleep, and in the mad dash to get to class you forget to pack a lunch, you will probably sustain yourself quite deliciously.

Our final class is a pot luck lunch instead of more snacks - guess we should consider the snack exercise a practice run for the big event.  Think about it.... 100 or so students/faculty bringing in pot luck contributions..... they're going to have to haul us out of there in wheelbarrows!

So, if you decide to go through the MG program, be prepared to put your culinary talents to work..... and you might want to think about biking to class or signing up at the gym...... or bringing some serious willpower.

Diagnosing plants - getting started: Key Learnings

One of the most often requested services of a Master Gardener is to diagnose a plant problem.  

We're not allowed to make house calls, so you need to bring your plant problem to us at a Master Gardener clinic.  Plant diagnosis is challenging enough, but the challenge becomes bigger when the owner of the problem brings an inappropriate sample. 

So..... to help us help you, here are some pointers on what makes a good sample:

1.  FRESH IS BEST
Bring us a fresh, live sample. The freshest you can get is the rule. Trim off the offending problem right before you come to see us.

2.  THE GOOD, BAD AND THE UGLY
Bring us a sample that includes a healthy portion of the plant AND a sick/diseased part AND a dying/dead part (if it's progressed that far).  But don't bring in a totally dead plant.  We can't help you if it's totally toast. 

3.  BE GENEROUS
Bring us a sample that includes as much of the plant's features as you can:  leaves, stem, branch, bud, flower, seeds.  Obviously if it's a small plant, you may not be able to bring us a sizeable sample, but do the best you can.  If you're bringing us a weed, bring us the entire plant - roots and all.

4.  WRAP IT RIGHT
Don't put it in a plastic bag.  It needs to "breathe", so carefully wrap it in a paper towel or newspaper or a paper bag, and be sure not to squash it. 

5. TELL US WHAT IT IS
Family, genus, species, cultivar, hybrid....as much as you know.   If you still have the plant label bring that with you - that's the ideal! If you don't know the name of the plant that's OK, we'll find out for you, but it speeds things up if you already have the full details.

6.  PICTURES ARE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Bring us some photos:  of the problem plant, the bed it's planted in (so we can see what other plants it hangs out with), and a good scenic shot of the general landscape (so we can better understand the environment it's living in).  All of these may be clues as to what's causing the problem.

7.  HISTORY LESSON
Be prepared to tell us as much about the plant as you know.

• When was it planted?
• How was it planted?
• What's the soil like that it's planted in?
• Is it mulched in?
• How do you water/feed/fertilize it?
• Have you ever treated it with chemicals?  If so, what and when?
• What other chemicals do you use in your landscape?
• Any unusual things going on around your house (construction, tree felling, installed hardscape/sprinklers etc)

7.  DEAD BUGS ONLY PLEASE!
If you think you know the culprit causing the problem and want to bring us a sample to see, be sure it's dead first!   For bugs, the best way to do this without damaging it is to put the larvae/maggot, nympth or mature insect in a small plastic container and put the sealed container in the freezer to finish things off.  Then gently cover the dead bug with a facial tissue or paper towel to stop it rattling around in the container while in transit.

8.  SAMPLE NO-NOs

• No single leaves, twigs, flowers, stems etc.
• No dead plant specimens.
• Don't tape it, twist tie it, bundle it up in twine or in any way bind it together.
• No plastic bags or containers (for plant samples)
• No house pests, pet pests or people pests - we only diagnose garden/plant pests.

If we can't diagnose your problem at the clinic, we'll happily pack it up and send your sample to the lab for proper diagnosis.  When the problem's been identified, you'll be notified in writing, and your clinic will be copied on the results so we can learn from the experience and be better equipped to handle the next client with a similar problem.